A shallow white porcelain bowl holds overlapping slices of dark brown beef shank and cream tripe in bright red chili oil, scattered with sesame, crushed peanuts and scallion, with wooden chopsticks beside it.
The regional cooking of Sichuan and Chongqing, known for its wide range of flavour types.
Fuqi feipian is a Chengdu cold dish of braised beef and beef offal cut into thin slices and dressed with chili oil, ground Sichuan pepper, sesame and peanuts. It began as a cold offal dish sold by street vendors in Chengdu in the late Qing, and a couple surnamed Guo and Zhang made it widely known in the 1930s. Although the name contains the word for lung, lung is rarely used today. A brand named Fuqi, operated by the Chengdu municipal catering company of Sichuan (the Fuqi Feipian shop), was recognized by the Ministry of Commerce as a China time-honored brand on November 7, 2006.
What
Fuqi feipian is a Sichuan cold dish: beef and beef offal such as heart, tongue and tripe are braised and cut into thin slices, then dressed with chili oil, ground Sichuan pepper, sesame and peanuts. The name contains the word for lung, but accounts differ on whether modern versions use none or rarely use it; the latter description appears in a 2017 article.1,2,3,5
When
Vendors were already selling dressed offal in the Muslim quarter of Chengdu in the late Qing, and the couple Guo Chaohua and Zhang Tianzheng made it widely known in the 1930s. These are retellings, with no dated original text found; one article gives no date for the couple, and the spelling of their names differs slightly between accounts.1,3
Where
Chengdu, Sichuan. The flagship shop's recorded address as of August 13, 2025 was on Zongfu Street in Jinjiang District.4
How
The beef and offal are cleaned and cooked in a spiced stock, cooled, cut into thin slices, and tossed with chili oil, ground Sichuan pepper, soy sauce and sesame, then topped with crushed peanuts.1,2,5
Why
Offal was cheap and sold to laborers and students, and the couple's skill with seasoning made it known. Lamb offal was later added to suit customers.1,3
Impact and influence
It is now a common cold dish on Sichuan restaurant menus in many places. State-run Fuqi Feipian shops appeared after 1949, and a shop run by descendants of the Guo family opened in 1998. The brand named Fuqi is a China time-honored brand recognized by the Ministry of Commerce; the recognition is for the brand, not for the dish itself.1,3,6
Legend has it that the couple sold slices cut from trimmings, called waste slices in the beginning, a name that did not sound good. Customers liked the dish, someone gave them a gold-lettered plaque, and the name was changed to use the similar-sounding character for lung, giving Fuqi Feipian. Lung is rarely used today.
Told in: A folk tale, found in Chinese Wikipedia and in a 2017 article in The World of Chinese. No dated text recording the story was found.
The Tale of the Notes on Their Backs
Legend has it that children stuck notes reading Fuqi Feipian on the backs of the couple, passers-by began to shout the name, and a merchant then gave them a gold-lettered plaque bearing it. This is a folk account with no dated text to back it.
Told in: A folk tale, retold in the English Wikipedia entry, which gives no source for it. No dated text recording the story was found.
This is a simplified home version, not the traditional restaurant method.
Lung is rarely used in fuqi feipian today, and I leave it out too, so my version at home is simpler still: I use only beef shank and tripe, braise them, let them cool, slice them thin and toss them with ready-made chili oil. Restaurants also add tongue and heart, which I cannot easily buy at home, so I leave them out. The amounts and timings below are my own choices at home, informed by two published recipes.
Ingredients
Beef shank 400 g
Beef tripe, already cleaned 200 g
Water, for braising about 1.5 liters
Star anise 2 pods
Cassia bark 1 small piece (about 5 cm)
Sichuan peppercorns, for braising 1 tablespoon (about 6 g)
Ginger 4 slices
Scallion 2, cut into sections
Cooking wine 30 ml
Salt, for braising 1 teaspoon (about 5 g)
Chili oil, with chili flakes 60 ml
Ground Sichuan pepper half a teaspoon
Light soy sauce, for the dressing 20 ml
Sugar, for the dressing 1 teaspoon (about 4 g)
Braising liquid, for the dressing 30 ml
Celery 1 stalk, thinly sliced
Roasted peanuts 20 g, crushed
Toasted white sesame seeds 1 tablespoon
Coriander a few sprigs, chopped
Steps
Cut the shank and tripe into large pieces, start them in cold water, boil for 5 minutes, then lift out and rinse.
Put 1.5 liters of water, the star anise, cassia, peppercorns, ginger, scallion, wine and salt in a pot, bring it to the boil, add the shank and tripe, and simmer on low heat for 90 minutes to 2 hours. The meat is done only when a chopstick slides easily into the thick part of the shank and the tripe is tender.
Turn off the heat and let the meat cool in the liquid, then lift it out and slice it against the grain into pieces about 3 mm thick. Set aside 30 ml of the liquid.
Stir the chili oil, ground pepper, soy sauce, sugar and 30 ml of braising liquid together in a large bowl.
Add the sliced meat and celery, toss well, plate it, and scatter the peanuts, sesame and coriander on top. Serve it cold.
Tips
I like to let the meat cool in its liquid before lifting it out, since I find the slices hold together better; this is my own experience.
I finish the dish the same day I dress it. Anyone allergic to peanuts or sesame should leave those two out.
